When Grant was at war with himself his mouth had a slight twist in it, and tonight the twist was very marked. He had found not one definite answer to the problems that troubled him. He did not know whether Mrs. Ratcliffe had recognized the brooch or not. He did not know whether she had said New York to her maid or not. And though he had seen her writing, that helped to no conclusion; a large percentage of women wrote large and very round hands. Her pause at the sight of the brooch might have been merely the pause while she read the twined initial. Her veiled questions as to its origin might have been entirely innocent. On the other hand, they most emphatically might not. If she had anything to do with the murder, it must be recognized that she was clever and not likely to give herself away. She had already fooled him once when he dismissed her so lightly from his mind on the first day of the investigations. There was nothing to prevent her from going on fooling him unless he found a damning fact that could not be explained away.
"What do you think of Mrs. Ratcliffe?" he asked Miss Dinmont. They were alone in the compartment except for a country yokel and his girl.
"Why?" she asked. "Is this merely making conversation, or is it more investigation?"
"I say, Miss Dinmont, are you sore with me?"
"I don't think that is the correct expression for what I feel," she said. "It isn't often I feel a fool, but I do tonight." And he was dismayed at the bitterness in her voice.
"But there's not the slightest need," he said, genuinely distressed. "You did the job like a professional, and there was nothing in it to make you feel like that. I'm up against something I don't understand, and I wanted you to help me. That's all. That's why I asked you about Mrs. Ratcliffe just now. I want a women's opinion to help me — an unbiased woman's opinion."
"Well, if you want my candid opinion, I think the woman is a fool."
"Oh? You don't think she's clever, deep down?"
"I don't think she has a deep down."
"You think she's just shallow? But surely — " He considered.